Justice Department: 2.8B in Fines to Auto Industry Suppliers for Price Fixing

"Tom McParland" (tommcparland) 05/27/2014 at 13:10 • Filed to: corporate crime, investigations

2

7

The US Justice Department is continuing a massive investigation on the part of major auto-industry suppliers. The AP reports that this instance of price-fixing and bid-rigging is the Department's largest criminal antitrust probe ever.

"It's a very, very safe assumption that U.S. consumers paid more, and sometimes significantly more, for their automobiles as a result of this conspiracy," Brent Snyder, a deputy assistant attorney general in the antitrust division, said in an interview."

Get the full scoop from the AP here

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Tom McParland 05/27/2014 at 13:29

0

Tom, in all honesty do you expect this to lead to cheaper cars? Or is there a good chance car makers will just receive larger margins?

Tom McParland > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 05/27/2014 at 13:30

1

I don't actually think our prices will adjust much, but it is news worth reporting.

Jonathon Klein > Tom McParland 05/27/2014 at 13:31

0

BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather > Tom McParland 05/27/2014 at 13:39

0

That's the only thing that bothers me about this case. I'm all about anti-trust and fair market, but I wish they wouldn't lie to boldly about how it's to save them money to build cheaper cars. Even if this does lead to a 15% cheaper car to make, each step in the process will take an extra % of that for themselves, leaving us with minimal savings at best.

Don't piss on my head and tell me it's raining.

f86sabre > Tom McParland 05/27/2014 at 13:44

0

I wonder how this impacts the consumer at the auto parts store? I always found it interesting how the prices for replacement parts were so close between various chains.

The man in the iron mask > BugEyedBimmer - back in the Saddle Dakota Leather 05/27/2014 at 14:14

3

Hear it

E92M3 > Tom McParland 05/27/2014 at 15:15

0

So about 2% of what was made with the price rigging? This won't lead to cheaper cars unfortunately. Its pretty common behavior in a lot of fields. Especially the food industry.